One of the best ways to improve your writing (any writing) is to spend a little time writing fiction. I’m not talking about tax returns either. I mean real fiction. If you are a writer who only writes fiction, then this post may not apply and could bore you to tears. For you folks, head on over and have a look at the Top 10 Top 10 Lists for Writers, a Tumblemoose classic. For the rest of you that write everything from web content to ad copy, let’s look at using fiction to better your writing.
Dull, boring rut
I wish I could say that I spend a majority of my time writing fiction. It would be nice to just show up and do a few thousand words each day on a novel or two while resting on the laurels of my last best seller. As it turns out, the folks at VISA discovered I’m yet to be a published novelist so they’d like a little moo-la each month. All of this means that I need to find clients and write predominately non-fiction web content. Whooppee!
Trust me, I am not griping about having the work. But I do find that when I have to write 20 300 word articles that all have a variant of the keyword “halitosis”, I’m kind of a mess when it’s all said and done. What creativity I have is shot and I feel like a bit of a dullard.
Cleanse your palate
When trying different cologne or perfume, most upscale stores will have a snifter of coffee beans so that you may cleanse your palate between brands. You will find the same type of thing at wine tastings and such. It’s a pretty good plan. Start fresh, minimal influence of what you tasted previously. Hey, it must work, right?
What I’m suggesting is that you use fiction to cleanse your writing palate. This technique is especially useful if you’ve not delved into any fiction writing before. There is a certain liberation in having the ultimate control over scenes, characters and dialogue. If you have absolutely no intention of trying to get what you write published, then it is even more liberating. Grammar? Pshaw. Plot? Dialogue? Bullwash! Think about it. How awesome is that?! You can just make up a story and tap the keys to your heart’s content with nary a single care about red or green squiggly lines.
I’ve found recently that I’m feeling fictiony. I’ve been ignoring the writing for me while writing stuff that will pay the bills. What I have learned is that taking a break and doing even a small amount of fiction writing brings me back to my work writing with a greater sense of purpose and creativity. I am cleansed. I am healed.
Does anyone else use this technique? I wonder if the opposite is true for someone who writes mainly fiction. I’m interested in how folks break the reins of rutdom.
Post on the top top 10 list for writers looks great. Went straight to my delicious.
I think reading fiction also helps non-fiction writers.
Bamboo Forest – PunIntended´s last blog post..The Art of Artery Clogging: A Recipe
Hey Bamboo,
Glad you liked that list – there’ some really good links there.
Can’t argue with the reading thing. Writers write, and writers read. I think reading helps ficyion and non-fiction writers alike.
Cheers!
I’m in an MFA program and my focus is fiction. I do find writing nonfiction helps my fiction, but in a different way than you mention. I’ve started using elements of fiction (like dialogue, scene and character description) in my nonfiction and it has opened new doors. What I’ve learned is how writing is writing and my voice is my voice, and regardless of where I choose to use it the best result is when I do in fact use it.
When I write nonfiction in “nonfiction mode” it comes out dry. The same would happen if I wrote fiction in “fiction mode” because it would probably be imitating someone else.
Where I differ from your view is that it’s still about technical stuff even when I’m writing for myself and even when the result doesn’t look like it. The choice to “follow the rules” or not is a choice I make on a case-by-case basis.
I did a buttload of articles for websites, and yeah the pay helped out but it was absolutely zapping me of any joy in writing. I can write an “article” with the best of them, but people didn’t generally want to pay that much for web content, so I had to write . . . buttloads. I’m looking to get into magazines because the pay is so much better, so we’ll see how that goes.
Terry Heath´s last blog post..Lifehacks à la Gilbert and Sullivan – Make a Plan
Hi Terry,
The magazine market does not compare to web content writing.
Five or six bucks for a 500 word article-vs- $600 – $1500 for a magazine article? No comparison.
I’ve got an article coming out in Alaska magazine in two months. Not only will it be an excellent clip due to the fact they are a national pub, I’ll also make more with that one article than I did all last year writing web content.
George
@George: Congrats on the magazine article, that’s very exciting! I dabbled in copywriting and it was lucrative; even more so than mags, but it didn’t feel like “writing” to me.
Terry Heath´s last blog post..Lifehacks à la Gilbert and Sullivan – Make a Plan
This makes a lot of sense, George. Sheesh, you’re a genius!
I don’t do the fiction breather technique, though. Usually, I just step away if I can–even if it’s just to step outside and get some fresh air and absorb my beautiful surroundings. That can be quite inspiring and motivating!
Hey, congrats on that magazine article!!! Whoo hoo!!!
Michele
Michele´s last blog post..News: Update from the Homefront
Aww, Michele.
Thanks! As it turns out, a genius visited me today and was my co-author. It seemed easier than swallowing the sun.
For that to make sense, you need to see the post at Men With Pens today: http://menwithpens.ca/writer-sanity
Cheers!
I find my fiction helps my copywriting, and vice versa. In fact, that’s what our next podcast is all about.
The assumption is that writing copy and writing prose are worlds apart – you’re either one type of writer or the other. But it’s not true.
Approached correctly, they can complement each other in a way that sees you improve your writing across the board. You just have to find (make) the time to do both. That’s the challenge.
Iain Broome´s last blog post..Free e-book – ‘The academic eccentricity: creative writing in the classroom’
George, certainly makes sense to me – if we write in one form all the time it gets dull. I write a lot of things that are just for me where I can play a bit more, but I don’t write fiction.
As someone who doesn’t, but might agree with your advice to give it a try, how would you suggest getting started?
Joanna Young´s last blog post..7 Ways You Helped Me Write a Book
George, that pesky possessive apostrophe is one of my pet peeves. Great list of tips. I have a couple of lessons I model for teachers on some of these same ideas; nice to know they apply in the “real world” (whatever that is!) as well.
Linda704´s last blog post..Weekly Web Wanderings (weekly)
Hi George!
Well, you know me! My LongShortStories e-commerce site is ALL about writing great fiction (in my case, great adult short stories for my global family of subscribers).
You’re feeling ‘fictiony’–I love it, George! I think it’s about time you became one of my subscribers. These wonderful folks, most of whom are writers and bloggers themselves, seem to have a great need to take a mental ‘walkabout’ every now and then, and receiving a brand-new short story in their inbox every 12 days is the perfect respite. That’s what they’re telling me.
Wayne C. Long
Writer/Editor/Internet Publisher
http://www.LongShortStories.com
One of the best advice I’ve heard came from Bryan Eisenberg of GrokDotCom (who got it from Roy H. Williams): Write like fiction when writing nonfiction and write like nonfiction when writing fiction.
Meryl Evans´s last blog post..Book Review: The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
BTW, sneaking your face in pictures again???
Meryl Evans´s last blog post..Book Review: The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
LOL! You’re welcome… and thanks for the link!!
*smiles*
Michele
BTW, George. You’re having too much fun with PhotoShop these days!
Terry Heath´s last blog post..Lifehacks à la Gilbert and Sullivan – Synergy
Iaian,
Thanks for the back up. I think blending or complementing the types is a natural consequence of good writing.
I think that it would be especially helpful in copywriting. If you can weave a good story in your ad copy, you should do just fine.
George
Joanna,
I’m going to email you a few of the picture prompt exercises from my forthcoming e-book. The concept is simple: Write a little story based on the image and the information given. It can be very difficult to write those first few fiction pieces – it kind of feels like someone has thrown you from the deck of your warm and safe boat into the churning icy waters of an unhappy sea.
Please check back and let me know if the picture prompts are helpful.
George
Hi Linda,
Good to see you here.
It’s nice to see that sometimes the classroom does relate to the real world!
George
Wayne,
It absolutely my intention to get over there and get subscribed.
For those not familiar with Wayne, check out the guest post he did last month right at this very blog!
http://tumblemoose.com/the-long-and-the-short-of-it/
George
Meryl and Terry,
I found this really fun site – upload a pic and choose the scenes you want it placed in. Here’s the link!
http://www.funphotobox.com/Default.aspx
Enjoy!
George
Meryl,
Sorry, your comment ended up with my viagra ad comments (silly askimet)
That is an awesome quote and manages to encapsulate my entire post into one sentence!
George
@Meryl, that is indeed a great piece of advice
@George, thank you my friend
Joanna Young´s last blog post..Writing With Rapport on the Web: Spider Plant Babies and Sticky Writing
What is it about my name that’s spammy??? Not the first time akismet sent me to the dumpster. I feel like I’m in timeout.
Thanks for the link to FunPhotoBox.
Meryl Evans´s last blog post..Book Review: The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur
Meryl,
You’re welcome for the link – it is TOO fun!
Now that you’re back from your time out, you may join the others for arts and crafts. No more eating the paste, either!
George